Online shopping for bike accessories

Online shopping for bike accessories

At one time you could only buy bike components at your local bike shop, if they had what you wanted or you had to hope they could order it and then you would have to wait for it to come and hope it was the right size, colour or price. Then bicycle magazines started to have adverts for the bigger stores and you could post off a cheque and wait for your prized article to arrive. Now things could not be easier, your at home watching the Tour de France on television, you see you hero attack on the mountainous slopes of Alpe-d Huez, what are those sexy carbon cranksets he is using? They look like FSA or are they Campagnolo, they could be Stella Azurra, which are they? How much will they cost? Where can I get them? Well, get on the Web, put the name of that most wanted item into your search engine and see what it comes up with. The next move can be nearly as exciting as riding your bike up the mountains, that is making comparisons of all the components, something you probably wont be able to do at your local bike shop and then ordering it online, the worst bit is waiting for it to arrive.

All the top bike equipment, clothing, frame and bicycle manufacturers have there own web-sites, once you have found what you really want for your cycle, most sites can link you to a retail shop, from there, with the use of your credit card you can order the goods on-line, or check out a store near to where you live and if they stock what you are looking for. This is best for items of clothing, shorts and tops, sizes vary from one maker to another and there is nothing worse than receiving your new professional look a like clothes and it is too big or small, so get down to your local bike shop or sports store, try on your choice for size and if all is OK, you can buy it there and then or if you don't mind waiting and it is at a better price, order and pay for it online and wait for it to arrive in the post to your house.

How To Buy Cycling Shoes On Line.

There are many bike shoes on the market, and finding the right ones for you can be hard. Look them up on the web, go through the search engine or if you have a particular make in mind, find them online and if you cant try some in a bike shop, this is best, because size can be a problem, one manufacturers size 9 could be a half size bigger or smaller than another company, and most of the best cycling shoes are Italian, so remember that European sizes are very different from American or English sizes, and German shoes are wider and Italian shoes are narrower and you may be looking for a size 44 or 45, so try as many different shoes you can and then make your decision. Very importantly with shoes is which pedal system you are using, Look, Shimano, Campagnolo, Time and all the other systems have different fittings on the sole of the shoe, check up which they have on the shoe manufacturers web-site and then it should then be safe to order them online.

And Helmets.

An other good and very important item you could look for online is a bike helmet, as with most cycling goods there are many different helmets on the market, some times the helmets you see on the heads of the professionals are difficult to find, but anything is possible on the net, just type it in and away you go, it may be that just the helmet you are looking for is available in Germany, get it ordered, it may take some time to come but if its what you want it will be worth it. Sizes of helmets, like shoes can vary, so if it is possible to try before you buy, then make sure it is a comfortable fit, the big difference between cycling shoes and helmets is that helmets come with different pads to go inside so you can make the helmet fit exactly, which could help if you have ordered the wrong size, this is not something you can do with cycle shoes.
About the author:

Andrew Caxton is a successful author as well as the webmaster of
Andrew used to publish bike technical reviews. At his site you can find reviews on and